An 80-year-old woman from New Norfolk will compete alongside elite lifters and first-timers at a female-only powerlifting competition in Kingston next week.
Power of Women will be held at the Kingborough Hub on Saturday, November 7, with 70 competitors aged from 14 to 80 registered for the event.
Organiser Alex McNeill, who runs the Girls Who Lift coaching business behind the competition, said the event began in Melbourne in 2020 and grew each year before she moved to Tasmania with her family last year.
The competition also raises money for the Breast Cancer Network.
The oldest competitor, who trains at a New Norfolk gym, is believed to be taking part in a powerlifting competition for the first time.
McNeill said another standout was a 60-year-old lifter from a Moonah gym who could squat and deadlift more than 200kg.
“We have a lot of strong older women competing, which is really cool,” she said.
This year will also see the introduction of a junior division, with children aged three to 10 taking part in a “fun, non-official” competition.
McNeill, who has worked as a strength coach for eight years, said powerlifting gave women a performance-based goal to work towards.
“I think for women it’s amazing having a performance-based goal and seeing what their bodies can do rather than just training purely based for aesthetics,” she said.
She said the competition was designed to encourage lifters of all abilities, with crowd support not dependent on how much weight someone could lift.
“No one cares if you’re lifting 20 kilos or 200 kilos, like the crowd will go wild no matter what you lift,” she said.
Teams from several gyms will compete, with McNeill encouraging the public to attend and support women in sport.
Power of Women will be held at the Kingborough Hub, 7 Goshawk Way, Kingston, on November 7. Entry is free, with doors opening at 7.30am and lifting starting at 9am.
